Monthly Archives: February 2021

Showtime Series Review: Your Honor

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The new 10 part Showtime series “Your Honor”, starring Brian Cranston is as close to a Shakespearian tragedy as I have seen in a long time. The story starts simply, “what would a parent do to save their child if they made a mistake”. In this case a judge Michael Desiato, played expertly by Brian Cranston has a son named Adam who has Asthma. Adam makes a tragic driving error by bending down to pick up his inhaler and hits a teenage boy on a motorcycle, who himself was driving erratically. Unfortunately this teenage boy has a father who is both a murderer and master criminal, making going to the police and confessing no longer an option. From the very beginning, this basic conflict make for a highly believable and unique story that I have not seen before, with extremely well drawn out twists and turns all the way to the last episode.

This series is brilliant because of the way all of the lies Judge Desiato tells everybody he knows, trying desperately to hide the fact that his son was involved in the accident that killed a teenage boy. The lies mutate and grow ever more complex and impossible to conceal as the story unfolds. Desiato’s friends notice little discrepancies that don’t seem right, other small lies slip out, other things are found out that at first seem to be perfectly hidden. With a lie this big, over time it becomes impossible to keep it a secret. The unwinding of so many lies during this story, is the best part of this series.

As he was with the great series “Breaking Bad” – arguably the greatest television series of all time, Your Honor shows Cranston at his best with great dialogue, story and most importantly, his great acting as judge Desiato. All of the remaining cast members are also great in their roles with an ending that is both a surprise and ultimately tragic.

The IMDB ratings are an outstanding 81%, which is an accurate number, along with a ridiculous 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, that has only one very inaccurate critical review. Regardless, I highly recommend this series which is now available on Amazon Prime.

Movie Review: Land

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In the case of the new movie “Land” both directed and starring Robin Wright, the screenwriter started with a woman in her 50’s named Edee played by Wright – traveling by herself to live in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely nothing but a few cans of food in a broken down and abandoned log cabin with no plumbing. From the start of the movie, the question is, “why would anyone want to do something like this?”. Slowly during the two hours, we find out that a horrendous tragedy has happened to Edee. A tragedy that would challenge even the strongest among us to their very limit. Survival instincts take over that at times can be out of your control, when the worst of life happens. The brain tries to find a way to numb the pain, and try to move on – some how, some way. Many cannot move on and either go insane or take their own lives within a situation like this one. Land is definitely not a happy film, but no story like this one could ever be told in a happy way.

This film is about human survival, intense levels of grief and most importantly, human empathy – something that is very rare in this world. During her attempt to live in the middle of nowhere, Edee befriends Miguel, played very well by Demián Bichir, who not only saves her life but teaches her how to survive in the middle of the mountains of Wyoming. Their friendship grows with his sporadic visits, even bringing his dog who becomes quickly attached to Edee. The Cinematography of the huge mountains of Wyoming was very well done, as was the first time directing debut of Robin Wright. The ending of this movie is both powerful and emotional and at the end Edee finally finishes her story, about why she is such a state of extreme emotional grief. The story of Land is a simple and very powerful one.

Once again the critics are wrong, with the Rotten Tomatoes only at 69%. This film is a solid 85% and has my full recommendation.

2020 Golden Globe Award Nominations

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Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

“Emily in Paris” (Netflix)

“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)

“The Great” (Hulu)

“Schitt’s Creek” (CBC)

“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)

Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”)

Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)

Al Pacino (“Hunters”)

Matthew Rhys (“Perry Mason”)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)

Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”)

Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)

Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”)

Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”)

Best Director – Motion Picture

Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)

David Fincher, “Mank” (Netflix)

Regina King, “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)

Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)

Kate Hudson (“Music”)

Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”)

Rosamund Pike (“I Care a Lot”)

Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)

Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)

Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)

Gary Oldman (“Mank”)

Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Television Series – Drama

“The Crown” (Netflix)

“Lovecraft Country” (HBO Max)

“The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus)

“Ozark” (Netflix)

“Ratched” (Netflix)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)

Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)

Emma Corrin (“The Crown”)

Laura Linney (“Ozark”)

Sarah Paulson (“Ratched”)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Bryan Cranston (“Your Honor”)

Jeff Daniels (“The Comey Rule”)

Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”)

Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”)

Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)

James Corden (“The Prom”)

Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”)

Dev Patel (“The Personal History of David Copperfield”)

Andy Samberg (“Palm Springs”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)

Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)

Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)

Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)

Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)

“Mank” (Netflix)

“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)

Jared Leto (“The Little Things”)

Bill Murray (“On the Rocks”)

Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

“The Midnight Sky” (Netflix) – Alexandre Desplat

“Tenet” (Warner Bros.) – Ludwig Göransson

“News of the World” (Universal Pictures) – James Newton Howard

“Mank” (Netflix) – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

“Soul” (Pixar) – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris”)

Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)

Elle Fanning (“The Great”)

Jane Levy (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”)

Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

“Normal People” (Hulu/BBC)

“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)

“Small Axe” (Amazon Studios/BBC)

“The Undoing” (HBO)

“Unorthodox” (Netflix)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

John Boyega (“Small Axe”)

Brendan Gleeson (“The Comey Rule”)

Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Jim Parsons (“Hollywood”)

Donald Sutherland (“The Undoing”)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)

“Hamilton” (Walt Disney Pictures)

“Palm Springs” (Neon)

“Music” (Vertical Entertainment)

“The Prom” (Netflix)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)

Olivia Colman (“The Father”)

Jodie Foster (“The Mauritanian”)

Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)

Helena Zengel (“News of the World”)

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
“Another Round” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

“La Llorona” (Shudder)

“The Life Ahead” (Netflix)

“Minari” (A24)

“Two of Us” (Magnolia Pictures)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Emerald Fennell – “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)

Jack Fincher – “Mank” (Netflix)

Aaron Sorkin – “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton – “The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Chloe Zhao – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”)

Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)

Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)

Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”)

Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)

Julia Garner (“Ozark”)

Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Cynthia Nixon (“Ratched”)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.) – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas

“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste